Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer Blog

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

The majority of the new allegations in the First Amended Complaint describe the residency training that Dr. Lee should have heeded in order to avoid causing the subject incident. Dr. Lee was provided training at National Hospital, prior to the incident, about the specific risk posed to the public by fatigued or sleep-deprived medical residents. The article "Extended Work Shifts and the Risk of Motor Vehicle Crashes Among Interns" published by the New England Journal of Medicine on January 13, 2005, was just one of many scientific journal articles offered to Dr. Lee on the subject. The collective information regarding Dr. Lee's training is directly relevant to the action and establishes the fact that Dr. Lee was acutely aware of the dangerous risks posed to the public, including Plaintiff, by driving home in a fatigued or sleepy condition after being awake for a continuous 18 hours. Plaintiff has sufficiently, and with much detail, alleged the various ways in which Dr. Lee acted with malice and oppression by disregarding her training on a multitude of levels.

The present case is highly distinguishable from Austin v. Regents of Univ. of California (1979) 89 Cal.App.3d 354, where the Court held, ... the allegations in plaintiff's complaint are purely conclusory. Here, Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint is replete with facts establishing how Dr. Lee acted with a willful and intentional decision to operate a motor vehicle in a fatigued, sleepy and impaired condition. Her conduct was despicable in light of her residency training at National Hospital. Also, National Hospital provides its residents with alternative means of travel, such as a shuttle, bus, or taxi vouchers, but Dr. Lee willfully and knowingly chose to drive home with a conscious disregard of the rights or safety of Plaintiff and the public.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Continue reading "Sacramento Car Accident Victim Shows Evidence Of Egregious Conduct By Local Doctor, Part 6 of 11" »

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

ARGUMENT

LEGAL STANDARDS ON MOTION TO STRIKE

Motions to strike are not favored. Weil & Brown, Civil Procedure Before Trial, § 7:197. The policy of California law is to construe the pleadings liberally ... with a view to substantial justice. C.CP. § 452.

Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint meets the notice pleading requirements under California law. What is important is that the complaint as a whole contain sufficient facts to apprise the defendant of the basis upon which the plaintiff is seeking relief. Perkins v. Superior Ct. (1981) 117 Cal.App.3d 1, 6. Specificity is not required in the Complaint because modern discovery procedures necessarily affect the amount of detail that should be required in a pleading. Ludgatelns. Co. v. Lockheed Martin Corp. (2000) 82 Cal. App.4th 592, 608. The First Amended Complaint adequately informs Dr. Lee of the damages sought and the legal bases for those damages. Since Plaintiff has met the notice pleading requirements, Dr. Lee's motion to strike should fail on all accounts.

PARAGRAPH 32 SHOULD NOT BE STRICKEN SINCE PLAINTIFF'S ALLEGATIONS ARE FACT-SPECIFIC AND ESTABLISH IN DETAIL HOW DR. LEE ACTED WITH MALICE AND OPPRESSION

Defendant seeks to mislead the Court by alleging that Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages is conclusory and based solely on the new fact alleged that Dr. Lee was awake for at least 18 hours prior to the incident. Dr. Lee claims that Plaintiff's new allegations contained within paragraphs 31 and 32 do not alter the factual scenario of the case, but that is exactly what the new allegations have done.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Continue reading "Sacramento Hospital Liable For Injuries Caused By Doctor In Car Accident, Part 5 of 11" »

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

●Defendant Susan Lee, M.D., failed to use reasonable care appropriate to avoid driving on public roads, streets and highways in a sleep-deprived and fatigued state and also acted wantonly, recklessly and with malice and oppression at the time of the incident. She admitted to the police at the scene of the incident that she had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Also, in Paragraph 32 Plaintiff pled a detailed factual account of Dr. Lee's training at National Hospital, which was taken from the deposition of Caleb Smith, M.D., who was Dr. Lee's superior at National Hospital and administered many of the residency trainings. These facts build the foundation for Dr. Lee's malicious and oppressive conduct on the date of the incident. These facts take up approximately four pages of the entire First Amended Complaint. In the interest of brevity, Plaintiff has not repeated the lengthy allegations herein.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Continue reading "Sacramento Doctor Hits Pedestrian After Ignoring Signs Of Extreme Fatigue, Part 4 of 11" »

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

PLAINTIFF HAS SUFFICIENTLY ALLEGED FACTS WHICH ESTABLISH MALICE AND OPPRESSION ON THE PART OF DR. LEE

Plaintiff specifically pled a variety of facts - not conclusions - supporting the allegations of malice and oppression against Dr. Lee.

The following facts pertaining to Dr. Lee's conduct were pled, providing sufficient basis for punitive damages:

●At said time and place, Defendant Susan Lee, M.D,. was driving the SUBJECT VEHICLE east on University Road. Defendant Susan Lee, M.D., knowingly and intentionally got behind the wheel while fatigued, sleepy, and in an impaired condition, fell asleep while driving and drove the SUBJECT VEHICLE east on University Road and up and onto the raised sidewalk and struck the pedestrian Plaintiff from behind.

●Defendant Susan Lee, M.D., failed to use reasonable care while negligently, and also wantonly and recklessly with malice and oppression, knowingly and intentionally got behind the wheel while fatigued, sleepy and in an impaired condition, fell asleep while driving and drove the SUBJECT VEHICLE east on University Road and up and onto the raised sidewalk and struck the pedestrian Plaintiff from behind. (See Part 4 of 11.)

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Dr. Lee seeks to strike the following portions of Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint: (a) portions of Paragraph 6, line 15 regarding Defendant's malicious and oppressive behavior; (b) Paragraph 32 regarding the details of Dr. Lee's training at National Hospital; (c) Paragraph 42 regarding Dr. Lee's malicious and oppressive conduct; and (d) Plaintiff's prayer for punitive damages against Dr. Lee. Her motion to strike fails on all counts because Plaintiff's allegations are allowed under the negligence theories pled in his First Amended Complaint and he has pled sufficient facts to justify seeking punitive damages.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS THAT SUPPORT PRAYER FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES

On June 16, 2009, shortly before 1:00 p.m., Plaintiff, a pedestrian, was jogging on the eastern sidewalk of University Road, near the intersection of Small Way, in El Dorado Hills. Dr. Lee was driving east on University Road. Knowingly and intentionally driving in a fatigued and sleepy condition, Dr. Lee fell asleep while driving and drove up and onto the raised sidewalk and struck Plaintiff from behind. Plaintiff flew violently onto the hood and smashed into the. windshield, then up onto the roof. (Id.) Plaintiff was carried approximately 59 feet east before being thrown off the top of the vehicle. (Id.) Dr. Lee, while still asleep, then dragged Plaintiff approximately 38 feet where Dr. Lee ultimately ran over him again.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Continue reading "Drowsy Doctor Hits Sacramento Man On Sidewalk, Part 2 of 11" »

The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this automobile accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant Susan Lee, M.D.'s Motion to Strike Punitive Damages from First Amended Complaint

INTRODUCTION

On June 16, 2009, at approximately 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, Defendant Susan Lee, M.D., fell asleep while driving and struck down the Plaintiff, David Hall, with her car as he was jogging on the sidewalk. Dr. Lee caused David to sustain serious and permanent injuries, including: traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, thoracic spine fractures, left fibula fracture, multiple lacerations, severe abrasions (road rash) from his upper back, arms, knees, thighs and toes, and contusions.

As part of her training at National Hospital, Dr. Lee was taught about the dangerous probable consequences of operating a motor vehicle while sleepy or fatigued. Despite the training, Dr. Lee, who is to do no. harm as a physician, left National Hospital where she had been working and awake for at least 18 consecutive hours, and drove home in a sleepy and fatigued condition. She was significantly impaired and unable to drive home safely.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Continue reading "Sacramento Pedestrian Hit By Fatigued Driver, Part 1 of 11" »